Finest Job

Summary:

This fic is for be-themoon who gave me some wonderful requests to work with and the ones I focused in on were Susan and Edmund, ruling and lawmaking in Narnia plus a sense of history in Narnia.

A quote given for inspiration was: I tell you / Someone will remember us / In the future. Sappho. This became the heart of this fic in which Susan and Edmund try to understand what previous rulers did before them and the holes in Narnia's history from the White Witch's acts are seen. I hope you like it as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you to dodger_sister for betaing.

Notes:

Work Text:

Third Year of the LionCourt shall meet in various forms to best serve all Narnians. At the turns of the seasons, there will be great gatherings when all Narnians will come together to celebrate and representatives will bring news from all corners of Narnia. Day to day matters will be covered by the king and queen along with any advisors that they appoint who will represent all Narnians, no voice shall go unheard in Narnia.

Susan smiled as she read over the passage and she wondered who Queen Helen and King Frank had been to become the first rulers of Narnia. The language wasn’t as convoluted as some of the English laws that she had studied in school and seemed friendly. It was a shame they had so little left of them, a few pages from the early Annals and even those weren’t all in order. They were coming up on the Fall Solstice which would be the perfect time to bring back the gathering and give everyone something pleasant to begin the colder seasons with.

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Edmund sighed as he turned over another page in the closest thing that Narnia had to a law book, as apparently the Witch had destroyed them first. Most of the annals had been hidden away deep in the cellars while personal journals had been tucked away in homes and burrows. Some had been found, many of them crumbling away, but they existed, Narnia had a history to be read. This one was only saved because a centaur had been traveling back from Archenland with it and was able to hide the book through the Long Winter. All Edmund needed was some sense of how to deal with an accident that maimed someone, he knew it must have happened before considering how many denizens of Narnia had claws and hooves.

The proper punishment for theft that takes away the ability to live or feed yourself must be one of the harshest: for what benefits one Narnian, benefits all and what harms one, harms all. Recompense must be made for theft. The same is true of injuries that make it difficult for any Narnian to live, the one who did the injury will insure that the one who suffered can live as they choose. Depending upon the reason for the injury, that will decide how great the one who did the injury. Accidents happen and through them we learn to do better, but anything done maliciously must be punished harshly. Only through kindness will Narnia grow.

It was nice to see King Frank’s handwriting, he was beginning to feel like an old friend to Edmund with his careful letters. Edmund wondered about him, who was this man that took such care of the early Narnians. Choice, it all came down to that and being able to live as they wished. It was a beginning but he still had to try figure out what it would look like out there in the world. At the moment, there was a centaur with a broken leg that if he’d been a horse back in England would have been shot. He’d been tripped in the midst of delivering a message and now couldn’t do what he was meant to, which was be a courier. The dwarf who had done it wasn’t remorseful and he had to find a punishment that made sense without insulting either centaurs or dwarfs.

As Calvin cannot perform his duties as a courier until his leg has been healed, Bracebottle the dwarf must assist him through his own abilities. He must help to build crutches and other apparatuses as well as giving of his time. If Bracebottle isn’t willing to do this then he must make recompense in the form of coins, jewels or any works he’s made that will allow Calvin to heal properly.

Edmund marked the place in the law book while he dried his pronouncement, which in time would be added to their own annals.

************

Susan stared at the rows of books in the library and not one of them was anything like what she needed. Narnia had a history of queens, princesses and other strong women, they must have kept journals. The White Witch didn’t destroy everything and she wanted to know how to tell an annoying lord to leave her alone while being a Narnian queen. Peter had suggested that she dare him to an archery match, she’d hit him for that as that wasn’t how a queen should behave. The thought of beating Lord Alfric was tempting but queens were representatives of the country, they had to do better, which meant not be petty. She could remember on the other side of the Wardrobe reading about Queen Elizabeth who did everything her way. Well, she’d figure out her way but it would also be Narnian.

Diary of Eleanor, Princess of ArchenlandI do wonder about Great-grandmama at times, she talks about things that don’t make any sense. I told her that I think I might be in love with Ellis but felt marrying him wouldn’t fit my duty. She grinned at me as if she was going to laugh and said, “Oh, but you can decide, all the choices are yours. No one can tell you that you can’t and take away anything from you.” I know that she’s not really from Narnia but she is too, because she’s Queen Helen the first. How could anyone dare to tell her that she couldn’t do anything? Even Great-grandpapa Frank always looks to her before doing anything.

Using a ribbon, Susan marked the fragile journal that had been found hidden in a secret compartment, she understood how Princess Eleanor felt but would rather have spoken to Queen Helen. In Narnia there was choice and freedom, wherever Queen Helen had come from she must have not had much. Perhaps once someone had told her that someone she loved was beneath her or threatened her. Susan was a queen, who would honor Queen Helen, which meant that she would present an example, she would be honest and while his feelings would be hurt, they could both move on. As she would choose the path that she walked as Queen and keep a journal to be read by other Narnians.

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To a future ruler of Narnia,Now I never expected to be anything more than a farmer, but my life took a number of turns. The farming didn’t work out as I had a run of hard luck and I was driving a cab around London with Strawberry when we were pulled to a place between and then to Narnia. I’ve blessed Aslan and the lad, Digory every day for giving me a chance to be more than I knew I could be. Helen’s looking over my shoulder and telling me I should write this in the proper language of the Annals, but I’m not going to. This is for me to let all those future kings and queens know that the line they come from is born of solid English stock that rose up with dirt under our fingernails and the joy of doing a job right. For this is a job, finest one that you’ll ever have, but you work for Narnians and they’ll pay you back more than you’ll ever know. Listen to Narnia and trust if you’re a king or queen, then you are.

Frank, King of Narnia

Frank smiled and folded the parchment up, tucking it into the fold of leather in the back of the first book of the Annals of Narnia. That way it would be found. For many centuries it stayed there, opened and smiled at by the children, grandchildren and onward of Frank and Helen until Jadis returned. The badger who cared for Cair Paravel’s library tried to hide the Annals away, but the first, which had been repaired and treasured was frozen as Winter began. No amount of shaking could free it, so snow and ice piled upon the book in its frozen cage until another icicle fell and the book tumbled down the castle wall to be stepped on by a giant, destroyed into a mix of ice and pulp. Thus King Frank’s message was lost though his voice came through in other books and all the rulers inspired by him and Helen.